July 25--July 31, 1998

Pain Study Commission Formed (7/31/98)

Republican Governor Fob James is creating a commission to study pain, the sort of pain that comes with terminal illnesses, like cancer. James says the pain that some terminal cancer victims suffer is "unacceptable." (Source: States News Service)

Minimally Invasive Surgery Corporation Announces Agreement In Principle To Acquire And Expand Thousand Oaks, CA Spine Medical Group (7/30/98)

Minimally Invasive Surgery Corp. through its wholly owned subsidiary Chiu Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, Inc. (CMIS), this week announced an agreement in principle to acquire the assets of the Thousand Oaks Spine Medical Group (TOSMG) and the services of Thomas Clifford, M.D., a neuro-surgeon specializing in minimally invasive spinal surgery and pain management. (Source: Minimally Invasive Surgery Corporation via PR Newswire)

New Dental Device Significantly Reduces Tension-Type Headaches (7/30/98)

A new dental device that minimizes the pain and discomfort of headaches associated with chronic clenching and grinding of the teeth may have usefulness in treating other types of head pain, according to research results presented this week at the 14th Annual International Symposium of the American Academy of Head, Neck and Facial Pain (AAHNFP). James P. Boyd, D.D.S., director of the Headache Prevention Institute, based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., who invented the Nociceptive Trigeminal Inhibition (NTI) Clenching Suppression System, presented results from clinical trials testing the device in people who experience chronic headaches. (Source: Business Wire)

Death With Dignity: National Poll; Americans Overwhelmingly Opposed To Congressional Action (7/30/98)

Americans are overwhelmingly opposed (72%) to any congressional action that would further restrict or prohibit doctors from prescribing medication that a terminally ill patient could take to end his/her suffering, as is legal in Oregon. Fully 66% would support a law similar to Oregon's Death With Dignity Act in their own state, according to a new national survey released by the Death With Dignity National Center, Compassion In Dying, and the Oregon Death With Dignity Legal Defense and Education Center. (Source: Death with Dignity via PR Newswire)

Researchers Confirm What Patients Have Known All Along: Back Pain Doesn't Go Away That Easily (7/28/98)

Only 25 percent of low back pain sufferers had fully recovered 12 months after their first visit to a general practitioner, says a recent study published in the British Medical Journal. This low number is in conflict with the commonly-held notion that 90 percent of low back pain episodes go away by themselves after a month. Among other things, the study found that the majority of subjects (90 percent) consulting general practitioners ceased consulting them within three months, even though they continued to have pain and disability up to one year later. (Source: American Chiropractic Association via PR Newswire)

Pain Relief For Dying Patients Not Congress' Decision--By RONALD A. CARSON (7/28/98)

When a dying patient complains of unbearable pain, the doctor needs to be able to provide relief without fear of being sanctioned. People at the end of life have a right to treatment of moderate pain as well, since persistent discomfort erodes the quality of those last weeks and months, which should be a time for contemplating life's meaning, achieving a sense of closure and exchanging love with family and friends. Gradually, care for the dying has been improving. Public interest in hospice and other alternatives to sterile, high-tech hospital intensive care were on the rise. Barriers to effective pain treatment were beginning to come down. Then last month Congress got into the act with a proposal to require the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to revoke the DEA license of any physician who intentionally causes a patient to die. (Source: RONALD A. CARSON via Houston Chronicle)

July 18--July 24, 1998

Headache Experts Agree On Excedrin Migraine For Migraine Pain (7/22/98)

A panel of world-renowned headache experts convened by the Diamond Headache Clinic Research and Educational Foundation released their recommendations to physicians for the management of migraine pain, a condition affecting approximately 25 million Americans. The panel recommended the combination of acetaminophen, aspirin and caffeine (approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration earlier this year as Excedrin^(R) Migraine) as first-line therapy for the majority of patients who suffer from mild to moderate migraine pain. (Source: Consulting Group Inc.)

Muscle Abnormalities Found In Patients With Mysterious Pain Syndrome (7/21/98)

A new study has found muscle abnormalities in people with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a disorder involving chronic pain in the arms or legs that can lead to severe disability. The study is published in this month’s issue of Neurology. The disorder, which was recently renamed complex regional pain syndrome type I, usually develops after a minor injury or operation on the arm or leg. Dutch researchers studied eight patients with one leg amputated due to complete disability in the leg and with untreatable or recurring infections. (Source: Neurology)

Tissue Changes Linked To Pain Disorder (7/21/98)

Researchers have found evidence of damage to muscle cells and small blood vessels in patients with a rare and painful disorder called reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD). Dr. Michael Rowbotham of the University of California, San Francisco, commentary, along with the results of a study by researchers at the University Hospital Nijmegen in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, are published in the July issue of the journal Neurology. (Sources: Neurology 1998;51:4-5, 20-25, American Journal of Pain Management 1998;8:78-82 via Reuters)

Treadmill Testing Safe For Chest Pain Patients (7/18/98)

Patients who go to the emergency room with chest pain -- but who are at relatively low risk for heart disease overall -- can safely undergo immediate stress testing on a treadmill, according to one of the largest studies conducted to date on the subject. Such exercise testing can help distinguish between patients at high risk of a heart attack and those at low risk. Dr. J. Douglas Kirk, director of the chest pain unit at the University of California-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and colleagues report their findings in the July issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine. They studied 424 patients who attended a hospital's emergency department for chest pain between October 1993 and October 1994. (Source: Annals of Emergency Medicine 1998;32:1-6. via Reuters)

Should Anorexics Receive Palliative Care? (7/18/98)

Patients in the advanced stages of anorexia nervosa often complain of severe weakness and physical pain. In the July 18 issue of the British Medical Journal, experts debate whether these patients should receive palliative care -- treatment aimed at symptom relief and not cure -- or whether such a move implies that healthcare staff have "given up" on the anorexic patient. (Source: Reuters)

July 11--July 17, 1998

Scientist Discovers Painkillers (7/16/98)

A La Jolla scientist has made a discovery that could lead to a new class of powerful painkillers without the side effects of the current morphine-based drugs. Researcher Daniele Piomelli reported his discovery this week in the journal Nature. He says these natural painkilling compounds, called cannabinoids, are similar to those found in the brain. Piomelli injected the cannabinoids into mice whose feet had been exposed to an irritant and were licking their feet to ease the pain. (Source: LA JOLLA via Reuters)

American Pharmed Labs, Inc. (APL) Reports New Patent Issued In USA For Treatment Of Back Pain (7/14/98)

American Pharmed Labs, Inc., a pharmaceutical company focusing on innovative pain relief therapies, this week announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has recently issued to APL a patent directed to a composition for topical therapy of pain. The patent will grant APL claims to the use of analgesically effective doses of anesthetics, in a topical carrier system for intact skin, for treatment of back pain, muscle tension, myofascial pain or a combination thereof. (Source: Business Wire)

July 4--July 10, 1998

FDA Panel Backs Otsuka America's Pletal (7/9/98)

Federal advisers this week recommended "highly conditional" U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical's new drug Pletal to relieve pain and inability to walk due to blocked leg arteries. Otsuka is an American subsidiary of the Japanese firm Otsuka Pharmaceutical. The advisers said Otsuka needed to do a post-marketing study of mortality, and include in packaging a detailed handout for patients on the risk of heart attack and stroke while taking the drug. (Source: Reuters)

Natural Health Trends Natural Relief 1222 Achieves Significant Clinical Trial Results In Arthritic Pain Relief (7/9/98)

Natural Health Trends Corp's. (the "Company'') wholly-owned subsidiary, Global Health Alternatives Inc.(GHA), this week announced that its topically applied Natural Relief 1222^(R) "Arthritis Relief," analgesic has achieved significant clinical trial results for reduction of arthritis pain and stiffness in a recent double-blind placebo-controlled study conducted by the California Research Foundation of San Diego, California. (Source: Business Wire)

STREAMING VIDEO: McNeil Announces New, Innovative Packaging For Over-The-Counter Pain Relievers Tylenol & Motrin IB (7/8/98)

McNeil Consumer Products Company has announced that its Tylenol^(R) (acetaminophen) and Motrin^(R) IB (ibuprofen) brands will sport new packaging beginning this month. The packaging features redesigned front panel graphics to make it easier for consumers to select appropriate dosage forms. The back panel has been simplified with the use of larger print, helpful icons and an easier-to-read format. As part of the label modifications, both the Tylenol and Motrin IB labels will be responsive to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent proposed rule that all over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers carry an alcohol warning. Watch streaming video which looks at the new Tylenol & Motrin IB labels at http://www.newstream.com/98-265.shtml (Source: Business Wire)

Chronic Pain Common Throughout World (7/7/98)

Chronic pain is a common health problem throughout the world, according to a report. Researchers found that overall more than a fifth of patients treated by health clinics in 14 different countries suffered from chronic pain. An international team of researchers led by Dr. Oye Gureje of University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria, published their report in the July 8 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. (Source: The Journal of the American Medical Association 1998;280:147-151 via Reuters)

Green Apple Scent Cuts Migraine Pain (7/6/98)

The smells of certain foods -- such as green apples -- may help ease migraine pain, according to a report. Dr. Alan Hirsch of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, and Dr. Chil Kang of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, both located in Chicago, report their findings in the journal Headache Quarterly. (Source: Headache Quarterly 1998;9:159-163 via Reuters)

June 27--July 2, 1998

FDA OKs Duramed Generic Percocet (7/1/98)

Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. said this week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for oxycodone and acetaminophen tablets, the generic equivalent of Percocet. The company said in a statement oxycodone and acetaminophen tablets gives the company another analgesic product. (Source: Reuters)

FDA Approves Maxalt^(R) Merck's Oral Medicine To Relieve Migraine Pain And Symptoms (6/30/98)

Migraine sufferers now have a new way to treat their migraine headache the moment it strikes. Merck & Co., Inc. this week announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Maxalt^(R) (rizatriptan benzoate), a new medicine for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. Maxalt is the first and only migraine medicine available in both conventional tablets and convenient Maxalt-MLT^(TM) tablets, which disintegrate within seconds on the tongue without liquids. The FDA approval of Maxalt was based on four placebo-controlled clinical studies of Maxalt 10 mg (1,167 patients) and 5 mg tablets (977 patients). In these studies, approximately seven in 10 patients who took Maxalt 10 mg reported pain relief at two hours; six in 10 patients who took Maxalt 5 mg reported pain relief at two hours. (Source: Merck & Co., Inc. via PR Newswire)

Half Of Spinal Manipulations "Appropriate" (6/30/98)

Spinal manipulation was "appropriate" in about half of the cases in which chiropractors used it to treat low back pain, according to a study in the July 1 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. A team of researchers, led by Dr. Paul G. Shekelle of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California, set out to determine how often chiropractic treatment for low back pain was in agreement with practice guidelines issued in 1994 by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. (Source: Annals of Internal Medicine 1998;129:9-17, 65-66. via Reuters)